Oct 11, 2006 By Jim Downey 4 min read

Waynesburg Central’s Rachel Rohanna wasn’t able to reprise her gold-medal winning performance of 2005, but the sophomore played well enough to finish second Tuesday in the WPIAL Girls Individual Golf Championship held at the Pittsburgh Field Club in Fox Chapel. Rohanna finished with a 2-over-par 75, two shots behind 2006 champion Margaret Pentrack of Shady Side Academy who liked the home cookin’ at the Field Club with an even-par 73.

Laurel Highlands’ Maria Battaglia missed the medal stand, but her season is still alive. She finished 10th with a 14-over 87 to earn one of the 16 berths into Monday’s PIAA Western Regional Golf Championship at Tom’s Run.

Eleven of the 32 girls will then advance to the PIAA Championships at Heritage Hills on Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 23-24.

Rohanna was expectedly nervous before she teed off as the defending champion, but a good drive off the first tee calmed her down. She had a great start, finishing with a 1-under 36 on the front and was at 2-under at one point in her round.

“I knew I had a lot of pressure. I was a little nervous,” said Rohanna.

Rohanna slowed on the back, though, with four consecutive bogeys at one point, included in that string were a couple of 3-putts.

“My tee shots were not that great. I had some poor shots,” said Rohanna. “A couple of the bogeys I had to make 6-foot putts.”

Rohanna was pleased with her silver-medal winning performance.

“I played a lot better than I expected. I thought I’d have to shoot a 68, 70 to win. There are a lot of holes you can birdie, pick up some strokes”

Waynesburg Central coach John Garber offered this review of Rohanna’s round, saying, “She grinded out a round.”

Battaglia’s round marked quite a turnaround because she was 9-over after the first four holes. The junior recouped to shoot 5-over in the final 14 holes.

“I just totally messed up in the first four holes,” said Battaglia, who will probably skip her iced coffee in next week’s regional. “I’m not one to get nervous, but I was shaking (from the drink).

“I told myself, ‘Okay, Maria, you have to get focused here or you won’t make the cut.’ I tried to relax and hit fairways and greens. There was no room for error; no room for mistakes. I really wasn’t thinking about medals.”

She had some woes on the back as well with three 3-putts in a row, but she recouped to finish strong in the final three holes.

Battaglia couldn’t stand the agony of scoreboard watching, getting the news from coach Mike Smith that she made the cut to next week.

She was hoping this would be the year to break into one of the top three spots after shooting an 85 as a freshman and 80 last year.

“I easily could’ve shot a 78, 79. I was looking to shoot a 74 or 75,” said Battaglia. “The greens were real big and everyone has breaks on them. I had dumb mental mistakes.”

Battaglia just missed one of the eight medals, but she benefited from the extra round in the state because she would have been on the outside looking in last year. She didn’t like the idea of the regional, but now sees the extra round as a chance to prove herself.

“I wasn’t happy about it at all, but now I’m pretty happy. I thought I had my game in order,” said Battaglia. “I have a great opportunity to bring it back and really show myself. I can recover. I definitely learned (from Tuesday’s round). I like Tom’s Run. I’d like to put up a good round.”

Laurel Highlands coach Mike Smith was impressed with Battaglia’s turnaround.

“After the first four holes, she played as well as anyone. I’m so proud she turned it around. Her 40 on the back was so impressive to me.”

The two girls are hoping to have company in Blairsville next Monday. Waynesburg’s Zach Schloemer and Laurel Highlands’ Josh John, along with Uniontown’s Seth Rockwell and David Bobish and Geibel Catholic’s Ed Spotts, play in the boys district championship today at Totteridge Golf Club.